Michael Jordan scored 41 points and tied a record held by
Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dennis Rodman pulled down
27 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls won their eighth straight game,
111-105 over the Dallas Mavericks, who have lost 12 in a row.

Coming off a 47-point explosion Saturday against Atlanta, Jordan
stayed hot. He was 16-of-29 from the field and again eclipsed 40
points without a three-pointer, sinking 9-of-11 free throws. He
has 186 career 40-point games, including 34 in the playoffs.

Jordan's free throw with 2:32 left in the first quarter gave him
10 points and double figures for the 787th straight game, tying
Abdul-Jabbar for the longest such streak in NBA history. Jordan
will try to break the record Tuesday at Minnesota.

Rodman, who grabbed a league season-high 29 rebounds Saturday,
also had 11 points and a team-high eight assists as he fell just
two shy of a triple-double. He started at center in place of
the flu-ridden Luc Longley and often was matched up against 7-6
Shawn Bradley, who is 10 inches taller.

"We expected this team to come in and play us hard," Jordan
said. "They knew that we were going to be weak in the middle
without Longley in the game. But Dennis did a great job of
standing his ground and giving us another outstanding effort."

"This was a fun game for us offensively, but it was unpleasant
from a defensive end," Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. "The
Mavericks penetrated the lane against us and they broke down our
middle interior defense. Without the outstanding efforts from
Michael and Rodman, we would not have won."

A 38 percent free-throw shooter, Rodman was 9-of-12 from the
line. He was harassed throughout the game by Mavericks rookie
Bubba Wells, who broke a 41-year-old NBA record by fouling out
in just three minutes. Dick Harley of Syracuse was disqualified
in five minutes on March 12th, 1956.

"I really think Dennis stepped up his game by shooting well from
the free-throw line," Jackson said. "I knew without Longley in
the lineup that (Mavericks coach Don) Nelson would foul Dennis.
Dennis made them pay for it."

"We had a good gameplan except for Rodman's free throws," said
Nelson. "The problem was that he made them. The strategy was
that he wouldn't hit them."

Michael Finley scored 23 points and Khalid Reeves added 22 for
the Mavericks, who have lost six in a row to the Bulls. Bradley
returned after missing a month with a calf strain and had 18
points and 10 rebounds.

"It was fun being out there on the court again," Bradley said.
"I felt pretty strong and was able to give what I consider good
minutes for the team."

Jordan scored 15 points in the first half, which ended in a
54-54 tie. Dennis Scott kept Dallas in it with 16 of his 18
points before halftime.

A basket by Chicago native Finley gave the Mavs a 68-66 lead
with 6:03 left in the third quarter. Ron Harper scored four
points and Jordan had a three-point play before a basket by Toni
Kukoc capped a 9-1 burst that gave the Bulls the lead for good
at 75-69 with 4:05 remaining.

Dallas responded with an 8-3 run to pull within a point, but
Rodman made four straight foul shots and and Jordan had a layup
as Chicago took an 84-77 advantage to the final period.

A 10-footer by Harper gave the Bulls their largest lead at
103-91 with 3:36 to go. Reeves scored seven points in a 14-5
spurt that cut the deficit to three points with seven seconds
left, but Jordan made a free throw and Joe Kleine added two for
the final margin.

Kukoc scored 19 points and Harper added 15 for the Bulls, who
shot 43 percent (36-of-84) from the field and held a 56-37
advantage on the glass. Jordan grabbed seven rebounds. The
Mavs shot 42.5 percent (37-of-87).